Family Connections

The reading on elephants was a very interesting one. It discussed to the social structure of a herd of elephants. It went as far to say that a herd is basically one elephant; as if one could not survive without the other. The entire herd revolves around the "mother matriarch" because she is the center of all knowledge. There are parallels between our society and that of elephants because we often use the term "Respect your elders." and "With age comes wisdom." and that is exactly how elephants function. The article also discussed the violence of elephants and how it was related to the detrimental effects that poaching has had on them. When the younger elephants lose the mother, or other significant figures of the herd, they have no guidance. They no longer have the close bonds to family and they become, for lack of a better way of saying it, cold and bitter. The younger males who don't have family ties end up causing the most damage. This article showed me that creatures can be complex beings as well, and the best way that we can understand them is to compare them to ourselves and find parralells.

Dog Umwelt

“The idea that a dog owner must become the dominant member by using jerks or harsh words or other kinds of punishment, she writes, “is farther from what we know of the reality of wolf packs and closer to the timeworn fiction of the animal kingdom with humans at the pinnacle, exerting dominion over the rest. Wolves seem to learn from each other not by punishing each other but by observing each other. Dogs, too, are keen observers — of our reactions.”” I liked this passage because it’s very true. Most humans do try to dominate over other animals, never even giving thought to the idea that there is another, more peaceful, way to go about things.I also found this interesting:“In one enormously important variation from wolf behavior, dogs will look into our eyes. “Though they have inherited some aversion to staring too long at eyes, dogs seem to be predisposed to inspect our faces for information, for reassurance, for guidance.” They are staring, soulfully, into our umwelts. It seems only right that we try a little harder to reciprocate…”I know my dogs have looked at me like that before. Often when I’m angry and my dog looks at me she’ll lower her ears and look scared. I never really thought to try to understand them too. Not beyond the obvious anyways. One thing I didn’t like about this article is that it was more like a review of a book than an article written about the author’s ideas on the subject. The author referred to the book a lot and for the most part just went off that. Which is fine, I was just expecting something a little different.
-Kelly Dickens

elephant world

the essay i read on the elephants almost made me sick. when they talked about having a group consensus on hanging an elephant who lashed out against her trainers i almost threw up. learning about elephants and how they have censors in their feet which can detect "messages" from other elephants from up to four miles away made me love them more. also, re-reading about the elephant family dynamic and how they mourn over other elephants', especially those in their families, deaths, linked them more to humans than other animals. the way they bury their dead and mourn over the bodies also connects them on a very emotional level to the world. i really like elephants, and reading about the depression raging through the elephant world made me really sad. the way they have been lashing out against the villiagers didn't make me feel as bad for the people as it did for the elephants. knowing that something is wrong with the entire elephant population worries me for the future, which could be potentially elephant-less. we don't seem to care about animals and their welfare in the wild as much as we should. we are such an egocentric species that we only worry about our own kind, and we don't worry about the world around us as much as we should. the essay made me really sad about the mistreatment of circus animals and the way we treat them when they lash out against us, as they have a right to do. we underestimate the intelligence of animals because they aren't like us. i take the elephants' side on this matter.

RR #2

For my second reading response I am going to be talking about “Inside of a Dog, What Dogs See, Smell, and Know” written by Alexandra Horowitz. I found this article to be the most fascinating of them all so far this term. Learning about this particular species was incredibly interesting and caused me to gain more respect for dogs, including my own. I found it amazing that dogs pay attention compared to humans. I believed dogs would try to understand concepts more, but after reading this article I was proven wrong. For example when Horowitz talks about what a rose is to humans and to how it is different to dogs fascinated me. I always believed that dogs sniffed this object for the wonderful smell, not for the stench of urine. I believed that humans pay more attention to objects and capture all the details, and to the dog species, they simply see it as a boring object that has nothing special attached to it. Yet I was proven wrong because dogs see more of the world compared to society with their advanced vision. Another concept I found interesting was how a hammer can have so much importance to society as a tool, yet to an animal it is seen as a chew toy or just an object simply laying there sharing no importance to the world. Overall I found this article extremely interesting and now that I have finished reading this I have gained more respect for my dog. Knowing how they are more aware compared to humans even though it may not seem like it causes me to give more respect for the dog species overall.
Noelle M.

q

On "An Elephant Crackup?" by Charles Siebert
It verified what I already knew which is that animals are a lot smarter than most people give them credit for. This story confirmed that animals, especially elephants do communicate sophisticatedly, have incredible memories and can and will defend themselves when needed. Possibly as smart as humans? Second thing it verified is that there are too many people in the world and we need NOT exploit animals for our entertainment.
On "Origin of the Mind" by Marc Hauser
Marc Hauser has an entirely different point of view. His theory and those he references in his article believes that animals are not as intelligent as humans and that we are further up the evolutionary scale than they. I don't know. In this class we seem to be leaning toward the school of thought that humans are the most intelligent creatures. With the material we've read so far I am starting to have a broader point of view on human intelligence, one of which I had when I was a younger child. That is when I was younger I believed that we are the most intelligent beings, however when I got older and more mature and started believing in the possibility of evolution etc. and watching more nature television I came to discover that animals have incredible intelligence. Now I'm just confused! Who is more intelligent? What is intelligence? Who says so?
On "On Questions of Temperment" Demonic Males by Dale Peterson and Richard Wrangham give damning evidence against men. Whether it is inherent or learned or evolution is anybodies guess. But, Wow, 2 men wrote this? I have to admit more men have made messes of countries in modern days than women. Vote women into office...
On "Are We Born Moral?" by John Gray. He referenced a previous author's observation that primates don't like inequities in food distribution. I suppose in humans greed and generosity depend on your family size. Primates live in huge extended "family" units. I grew up with 6 brothers and sisters. We were expected by our parents et el to share. Furthermore sometimes you'd get your brains beat in if you didn't!
So, what am I learning? I'm not sure really. I thought I was well rounded but I am introduced to lots of new thoughts and I feel a bit lost, more so than in any other schooling environment. Bill Thompson.

Defining nature: By Bill Thompson UNST
Nature is anything of or pertaining to nature or anything natural, such as trees, mountains, streams, animals etc. Or human nature.

Defining human: Human is anything of or related to human such as humans or humane in nature or treatment of anything. Any one in or born to the human race. Having human characteristics. Acting human i.e. using actions which are normal or natural for humans.

The idea of this assignment is to show that the 2 words are parallel and one cannot be defined without using the other.